Johannesburg - Global internet and media company Naspers [JSE:NPN] plans to dispose of its holdings in two Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) online businesses for R2.7bn.
CORRECTION: Fin24 previously incorrectly reported that Rockaway Capital is set to buy Naspers' holdings in Romania’s eMAG.
On Monday, Naspers announced a $201m (R2.7bn) transaction to dispose of its holdings in Czech-based online retailer Netretail and online price comparison platform Heureka to investment firm Rockaway Capital.
"For Naspers, the transaction forms part of an ongoing strategy to optimise its group structure," said the company.
"Naspers acquired Netretail (a Czech-based online retailer) and eMAG (the Romanian based internet retailer) in 2012, with a plan to merge the two assets and create a leading e-commerce platform across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
"Diverging strategic views prevented the merger from being completed. Naspers subsequently decided to focus on eMag as its preferred e-tail platform in the region," said the company.The transaction is subject to antitrust clearance, said Naspers.
Naspers’ announcement to dispose of these internet assets comes after it announced last week Friday a $1.2bn (R16bn) deal to become the largest shareholder in Russian online classifieds platform Avito.
Naspers is set to increase its stake in Avito from 17.4% to 67.9% on a fully diluted basis.
*Fin24 is part of Media24 which is owned by Naspers.